A recent production update could point to when Heartland Season 18 will be released.
The Canadian ranching drama has run for nearly 20 years, telling the ever-changing tale of the Fleming family and their farmland in the heart of the Canadian prairies.
Season 18 of the hit series was officially greenlit in May 2024, continuing the series' run as the longest one-hour scripted drama in Canadian television history.
Heartland Season 18 Production Update Could Tease Release
A new listing seemingly revealed the remaining production schedule for Heartland Season 18, which may indicate when the series will be released.
According to the official production list posted on the Directors' Guild of Canada, Heartland Season 18 is set to complete filming on its Alberta, Canada set on August 28, 2024.
This is set to come after nearly three months of shooting (aside from a one-week hiatus in late June).
Being that fans now know when filming on the series will be finished, one can start to predict Season 18's exact release date.
When Season 18 was first announced in May 2024, the show was said to return to TV sets in Canada by the end of October 2024 (and then come to the US in early 2025).
it certainly looks as though the series will make that late October mark at the absolute latest.
Typically Heartland seasons have wrapped filming in mid-to-late August before premiering six-to-eight weeks later in late September or early October.
Season 17, for example, finished production on August 10, 2023 and then was released 52 days later on October 1, 2023.
Given how late in August Season 18 seems to be wrapping up, its release date could be pushed a little further into October, but it seems unlikely.
Every season up to this point (aside from two exceptions) has premiered no earlier than September 16 and no later than October 17, with recent seasons all coming in that first week of October.
With all this in mind, Heartland Season 18's release will likely come sometime in the first two weeks of October on the Canadian TV network, CBC.
As for when and where the series can be found in the US, as a part of a multi-year partnership between CBC and The CW Plus, the series has aired on the American network in syndication as well as on the Up TV streaming service UP Faith & Family several months after its Canadian air date.
The show has been promised for a US release sometime later in 2025, likely following in the footsteps of past seasons and coming to American TV sets sometime in March or April.
Heartland has also started to make its way onto Netflix in several regions around the world (including the US), but it is doing so well after its release on both CBC and UPtv.
What To Expect in Heartland Season 18
Heartland has never been one to shy away from drama, in fact, it is the series' interwoven prairie-based stories that have been what has kept fans around for so long.
And those typical narrative ups and downs are sure to return when Season 18 debuts later this year.
No official synopsis has been revealed for Season 18, but there have been a few breadcrumbs laid for what is to come for the Bartlett-Fleming Ranch.
Season 17 ended with a bang. After several seasons of a romantic to-and-fro, Shane and Chloe (played by Sam Duke and Katharine Crane) finally tied the knot, signifying a major shift for the two series mainstays.
The biggest changes coming in Season 18 will see Shane and Chloe leave the foothills for the hustle and bustle of the big city, as the pair decide they will move away and start their time as a married couple together in Philidelphia.
And Season 18 will not just mean a fresh start romantically for its characters as well. It will also signify the turning of a page for the ranch itself.
After being dropped but Bartlett Foods in Season 17, putting an end to the sustained income secured by their beef agreement with the food conglomerate, the farm and the Heartland Beef business will have to look elsewhere.
It has not yet been revealed what this change at the ranch could mean, but it surely will be a key plot point in Season 18 when it trots onto TV screens.
Heartland Season 18 is still in production.
Read more about Heartland:
Heartland Season 18 Gets Hopeful Release Update from Producer
Heartland Season 17's Netflix Release: When Will It Start Streaming?
Here's When Heartland Season 16's Netflix Release Is Expected to Happen
